Franchise for Gold Label Broadcasting

Section 2 requires the grantee to construct and operate its stations and facilities in a manner that will result at most in the minimum interference on the wavelengths or frequencies of other existing stations (and stations that may be established by law).
Section 2 requires that this minimum-interference standard be achieved without diminishing the grantee’s own right to use its selected wavelengths or frequencies.
Section 2 requires that the grantee’s operations maximize the quality of transmission or reception and/or the availability of its services.

Section 3 requires the grantee to secure from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) the appropriate permits and licenses for its stations.
Section 3 prohibits use of any frequency in the radio/television spectrum without NTC authorization.
Section 3 directs that the NTC shall not unreasonably withhold or delay the grant of such authority.

Section 4 requires the grantee to provide adequate public service time so that the government, through the broadcasting stations, can reach the population on important public issues.
Section 4 requires the grantee to provide sound and balanced programming at all times.
Section 4 requires the grantee to assist in public information and education functions.
Section 4 prohibits the grantee from using its stations to broadcast or disseminate:
- obscene and indecent language, speech, act or scene;
- deliberately false information or willful misrepresentation to the detriment of the public interest; or
- content intended to incite, encourage, or assist in subversive or treasonable acts.

Section 5 reserves a special right to the President of the Philippines in times of rebellion, public peril, calamity, emergency, disaster, or disturbance of peace and order.
Section 5 allows the President to temporarily take over and operate the grantee’s stations.
Section 5 allows the President to temporarily suspend the operation of any station in the interest of public safety, security and public welfare.
Section 5 allows the President to authorize temporary use and operation by any government agency upon due compensation to the grantee during the period of such operation.

Section 6 sets the franchise term at twenty-five (25) years from the date of approval of the Act, unless sooner revoked or cancelled.
Section 6 provides that if the grantee fails to operate continuously for two (2) years, the franchise is deemed ipso facto revoked.
Section 7 states the franchise becomes effective upon acceptance in writing by the grantee.
Section 7 provides that upon giving acceptance, the grantee must exercise the privileges granted under the Act.
Section 7 provides that nonacceptance renders the franchise void.

Section 9 prohibits the grantee from requiring any previous censorship of any speech, play, act, scene, or other matter to be broadcast and/or telecast from its stations.
Section 9 requires the grantee, during any broadcast and/or telecast, to cut off from the air any speech, play, act, scene, or other matter being broadcast if it tends to propose and/or incite treason, rebellion or sedition.
Section 9 requires the grantee to cut off from the air if the language used is indecent or immoral or if the theme is indecent or immoral.
Section 9 provides that willful failure to cut off constitutes a valid cause for the cancellation of the franchise.

Section 8 makes the grantee, its successors, or assigns liable to pay the same taxes on their real estate, buildings, and personal property (exclusive of the franchise) as other persons or corporations are required to pay.
Section 8 requires payment of a franchise tax equivalent to three percent (3%) of all gross receipts of the radio/television business transacted under the franchise.
Section 8 maintains liability for income taxes payable under Title II of the National Internal Revenue Code pursuant to Section 2 of Executive Order No. 72, unless that enactment is amended or repealed, in which case the amendment or repeal applies.
Section 8 requires the grantee to file the return and pay the tax due to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue or a duly authorized representative under the National Internal Revenue Code.
Section 8 provides that the tax return is subject to audit by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

Section 10 requires the grantee to hold the national, provincial, and municipal governments of the Philippines free from claims, accounts, demands, or actions arising from accidents or injuries (to property or persons).
Section 10 limits the covered causes to accidents or injuries caused by the construction or operation of the grantee’s stations.

Section 11 prohibits the grantee from leasing, transferring, granting the usufruct of, selling, or assigning the franchise or the rights and privileges acquired thereunder to any person, firm, company, corporation, or other commercial or legal entity.
Section 11 prohibits transfer of the grantee’s controlling interest to any such private person, firm, company, corporation, or entity without prior approval of the Congress of the Philippines.
Section 11 provides that any person or entity to which the franchise is sold, transferred, or assigned must be subject to the same conditions, terms, restrictions, and limitations of the Act.

Section 12 requires the grantee to comply with a general broadcast policy law that Congress may hereafter enact.
Section 13 provides a separability clause: if any section or provision is held invalid, the other provisions not affected remain valid.
Section 14 provides that the franchise is subject to amendment, alteration, or repeal by Congress when the public interest so requires and is not interpreted as an exclusive grant of the privileges provided.

Section 15 provides that the Act takes effect upon its approval.
The Act lapsed into law on July 6, 1995 without the President’s signature, pursuant to Section 27(1), Article VI of the Constitution.
The Act was approved on July 06, 1995 and bears the filing/issuance record September 18, 1995 (91 OG No. 38, 6098).

Republic Act No. 8087 is titled “An Act Granting to the Gold Label Broadcasting System, Inc., a Franchise to Establish, Maintain and Operate Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations in Dumaguete City and Other Areas in the Visayas and Mindanao Where Frequencies and/or Channels are Still Available for Radio and Television Broadcasting.”
The Act grants the franchise for a term of twenty-five (25) years counted from the date of approval of the Act, subject to earlier revocation/cancellation and the continuous-operation condition.